


still a champion

by ghostscribe



Series: below the summit [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Gen, Pokemon Battle, literally if it aint angst idk what tags to use, uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 22:04:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17609873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostscribe/pseuds/ghostscribe
Summary: "Somewhere at heart, Crystal is still a trainer. She still wants,needsto battle."





	still a champion

**Author's Note:**

> (This is an event that happens after _[ReuNite](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15086573/chapters/34980683)_ , as a part of the _[9000 meters above sea level - epilogue](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1264154)_ series.)

It's still dark out, but she just can't sleep.

Sometimes, Crystal wakes up pretty early in the morning, a bit of a bad habit she's never been able to kick. It might be a remnant from her days as a more active trainer, when she would wake up before the sun and get a move-on. She used to travel and train for hours upon hours, well until the lights went out, and the sun would feel warm on her skin all day long. Now, though, she's just throwing herself into another research project, just something to keep her mind occupied, away from the call of the wild. She doesn't need to go exploring at a time like this.

She hasn't done much of that in awhile, actually.

She has been training, sure. She never stopped training her Pokémon, god forbid something about Team Rocket crop back up. She just... hasn't _battled_ any other trainers in awhile, and her travels have been limited to research incentives, moving from one lab to another. Watching the goings-on at PWT _did_ pique her interest, but still, she's been hesitant. She hasn't wanted to battle for a long time.

It was a series of conversations she had after becoming the new Indigo League Champion, after being coined _the next Red,_ that made her drop everything. Her demise as a trainer was a mix of a mother who never got to be a champion and the pressure she put on her, a dragon tamer's parallel observations between her and the boy who ran away before her, and the toll that boy's fame took on his head and his heart. It was just a lot, and she hasn't bothered with much battling since then. She's been a researcher ever since, often working with Green or Professor Elm on whatever projects come up. Working in tandem with another, working in the shadow of someone else, that's given her the shield she needs.

_Just don't get famous. It's awful._

That was Red's advice to her, on her second visit to his place on Mount Silver. She didn't need him to tell her twice.

"Hey, w-what are you doing up?"

Touya's voice floats through the open door to her room at the Pokémon Center. It snaps Crystal out of her own little world, pulls her away from a realm of nostalgia and hesitation and back into the world of the living. She gets caught up in her thoughts, living in a bubble away from the rest of the universe, and yet very much integrated with it. Everything she observes, everything she feels, all of it is taken from the world around her, and yet sometimes she gets lost in the meaning of it all, and she forgets that there even _is_ the world she's pulling her experiences from.

She used to feel that way about battles. She used to get so caught up in them that the world fell away, but it's been awhile.

"I dunno," she answers honestly. "I'm doing some research for now, since I couldn't sleep. Why are you awake?"

Touya shrugs. "J-Just, uh, I-I just had some weird dreams and couldn't get back to sleep."

She grins. "Trust me, I've been there. Just find something to keep your mind occupied."

There's a quiet moment, and she almost thinks he left as she dives back into her work. "Wh-What are you researching?"

"Some stuff about battles," she admits. "PWT got me thinking."

"Yeah?" Touya inches a little closer.

"Mhm. Do you wanna take a look?"

"Y-Yeah, sure," and now he's at her side. "I-I don't know much about researching, b-but, um, i-it always seems interesting to me."

"Yeah. It's a lot of looking for patterns and deconstructing the little things. It's like a puzzle."

He nods, his eyes scanning over the data. Her observations began halfway through PWT, so while the results may be a bit skewed, this is more of a personal endeavor. There's something about the way a champion battles a champion that seems unique, dissimilar to any other battle she's ever known. Green against Ethan, Red against Touya, those two _Battle Legends_ against each other, all of those battles have a distinct energy to them. It's almost another world of battling, a completely different league than anything else.

"S-So this is about all the PWT results?"

"Mhm," she nods. "I was actually looking at your results against Red just now. It's interesting," she continues, "because both your teams showed more strength than I've seen in others of their species _during_ that battle. That's what caught my eye about a champion versus champion battle."

"Right." Pause. "You're a Champion too, right?"

That catches her off-guard. "I'm sorry?"

"S-Sorry, m-maybe I misunderstood Red, b-but, um..." he trails off. This is... familiar, but in a distant way.

"I am," she answers simply.

"M-Maybe, then, um," he stammers, "maybe you could take notes on your own battle style...?"

It's a thought, but just a thought. Then again...

Crystal glances at Touya, the Champion of the Unova Region; and rightly so, after watching his battle against Red. It's not just that he puts up a hell of a fight that made her interested in battling him. It's that he can keep the rhythm of a battle going, that he can adapt on the fly, that he can snap Red out of a years long slump of feeling nothing but a faint distain for battles. It's the fact that his eyes were practically glowing during that battle, that he was beaming at Touya, that made her interested in challenging him herself.

...none of that has to do with research. Somewhere at heart, Crystal is still a trainer. She still wants, _needs_ to battle.

"I-I mean, um, I-I think it could be helpful, i-if that's what you're researching," Touya answers after a momentary pause, a hesitance in response to her own hesitation. "I didn't - I wasn't sure how long you'd be in Unova for, s-so I thought I'd just, um, mention it again. I-I think you mentioned something about wanting to battle me at PWT, right?"

Those words spilled out of her mouth without her even thinking about them. Maybe she should just follow her heart for once.

"Let's head outside."

Touya nods quietly at her, and the two of them are off.

"I'm sorry if I've seemed a little avoidant about this," she apologizes, reading the atmosphere. "It's just been awhile, so I'm a little out of my element."

"N-No, no, th-that's fine. I-If you don't want to, we don't - "

"Touya." He falls silent. "Do you realize how much fun Red had when you two battled?"

"I-I, um," he stammers, "I-I guess a little..."

"More than any research about battles, I want to know why."

"Um, I... I don't know?" It's more of a question than a response, because yes, she isn't being very clear right now.

"I want to know why that was so much fun for him," she elaborates, "and I think the only way I can do that is by battling you myself. So..."

She pulls out one pokéball, a signal to start the battle, and Touya does the same.

"We don't really have a referee here," she adds briefly, "but I think we can handle ourselves, right?"

"Right." There's an extra weight to his voice, one she still recognizes after all these years. That's the calm before the storm, the moment before a battle.

For a moment, and only a moment, she considers backing out.

"Ready?"

Crystal, though, is still a Champion, isn't she?

"Begin."

"Samurott, go!"

"Ampharos, Thunderbolt."

"Dodge, Surf!"

Blue and blue shoot past each other, vibrant electricity and a powerful wave, something electrifying traveling on the water, surging, raging, something new, something familiar, familiar -

"Ice Beam!"

"Again."

She's always been quiet during battles, she recalls, watching the ice soar toward Ampharos. The electricity travels _fast_ back toward Samurott, and this time it's a direct hit, enough to weaken Samurott to the point that Touya would want to recall him, and if he's calling his water type back, then -

"Samurott, come back!"

"Ampharos, switch. Scizor, come out." - then he's switching to something to counter an electric type, which would happen to be weak to her bug type.

"Krookodile," yeah, that sounds right. There's a moment of consideration at the unfamiliar Pokémon, then "Earthquake!"

"Superpower."

Scizor rushes Krookodile, avoiding a chunk of the damage that he would have taken from Earthquake had he stood his ground. The earth shudders under the power of the Unovan Champion's Pokémon, the air fills with dust, shouts and war cries of Pokémon are just audible over the rumbling earth, and the haze clears out to show Krookodile in worse condition than Scizor. That's not too much of an advantage, though. Also -

"Fire Fang!"

\- yeah, that.

"U-Turn."

The flames are almost enough to knock Scizor out, but Scizor lands his attack, and Krookodile is down and out. The metal bug returns to her in an instant, in a flash of red light. Her ears are ringing.

"Gengar, let's go. Will-o-Wisp." Honestly, anything she can burn will be beneficial.

"Reuniclus, come on! Psychic!" The flames lick Reuniclus's body, scorching it, but the damage from Psychic is a lot for Gengar to handle all at once.

"Pain Split." It's nothing she can't handle, though. The two Pokémon are evenly matched, now.

"Psyshock!"

"Protect."

The shield of light raises around Gengar before the psychic bullets can hit her, and that's another turn down, another turn of damage on Reuniclus, and another chance to keep herself just one step ahead. "Shadow Ball." That should be enough to -

"Come back!"

Wait -

"Galvantula, Volt Switch!"

Gengar is almost, almost unconscious. She hears her heartbeat start to race.

"Pain Split!" Whatever he's going to send in should have better health than Gengar, so there's no harm in _oh shit it's Chandelure -_

"Shadow Ball!"

And that's _almost_ enough to knock _her_ Pokémon out. Okay, fine. If that's how he's gonna be, if he's going to be sneaky and shuffle his team like Red does, she'll react with the same strategy she used when they first battled on top of the world.

"Suicune, Hydro Pump."

"You - wait - you - !"

It takes Touya a second to process the switch, another to process that Crystal sent out her water type against his fire type, and it takes one more second to process that _this is the legendary Suicune,_ a deity of grace and the purest spring water.

In each of those seconds, Suicune attacks, and Chandelure faints. 6-4, in her favor.

"Galvantula, Volt Switch!"

"Dodge, Ice Beam." That switch is annoying. She can barely get a hit in on the spider, but at least she got _something_ in this time. Who could he switch for now? The only Pokémon from PWT he hasn't used yet is -

"Leavanny, Leaf Blade!"

Woah wait -

"Ice Beam!" Wait a second -

"Dodge it!" Wait he didn't have a Leavanny before -

"Synthesis!" And this thing can heal herself.

"Since when do you have a Leavanny?" That's surprising, that's definitely a curve-ball.

"She's usually on my team, actually," he calls from across the field. "I found her in Pinwheel Forest. Leaf Blade!"

"Dodge! Get back!" Oh wow this is starting to be a hassle - "Typhlosion, Eruption!"

The look in Touya's eyes says that spells trouble, but before Typhlosion can make her move, Touya switches _again,_ and the flames scorch an already-burnt Pokémon. "Reuniclus, Focus Blast!"

"Fire Blast!"

Again, the air is clogged with dust an ash, a whiteout made of grey soot. She can tell Reuniclus is getting weaker from its cries, though her vision is blocked. When she can see again, Samurott is back on the field, and -

"Hydro Canon!"

"Focus Blast!"

It's enough to knock both of them out, a collision of brute force and an intense beam of water. Unfortunately, her starter is the first to faint - ah, and so is his, an almost fitting end for the two of them.

"Alakazam, Psychic." Focus, focus.

"Leavanny," yeah, that's not great, "X-Scissor!"

So Leavanny is a bug type, but a subtype of grass, so... "Dodge, Signal Beam."

"Again!"

Alakazam barely dodges that attack, getting nicked enough to edge his damage closer and closer to dire, but Signal Beam leaves Leavanny in just as bad shape. If Alakazam is fast enough -

"Again!"

"Dodge! Synthesis!"

"Keep up!"

The second wave of Signal Beam misses Leavanny, and the morning sunlight heals the insect more than Crystal would care to deal with, but - good, the second Signal Beam hits its mark. They're right back to where they started, though. This is getting them nowhere.

"Alakazam, come back! Suicune - "

"Switch out! Galvantula, Volt Switch!"

"- Air Slash!"

 _Oh come on -_ okay, okay, he can send Leavanny or Reuniclus back in now, so she has a decent shot of making this work. If he knows Suicune can use Air Slash, and Leavanny is _very_ vulnerable to flying type moves, that leaves the psychic type. Maybe she can piece this back together.

"Reuniclus, Psychic!" Yes, good, she was right on that one.

"Get back. Gengar, Shadow Ball!"

Both of the Pokémon are getting toward the end of their ropes. She can either try to Pain Split some health away from Reuniclus, or get one more hit in and call it a day for Gengar. She's definitely faster than Reuniclus, but using Pain Split over and over is going to be a wild goose chase.

"One more time." Once more, then she'll be out.

"Dodge! Psychic!"

It's - Reuniclus actually manages to _dodge_ despite being naturally _slower,_ Psychic hits it's mark, and Gengar is down for the count. The score is 4-3, still in her favor, but just barely. It doesn't help that Touya seems to have taken a hint from Red since then, with all this switching and dodging.

Still, something here is uniquely Touya. No wonder Red had such a thrill with him.

"Ampharos, come on," just to buy some time, because sending Suicune in is either a good or very bad idea.

"Leavanny, X-Scissor!"

Ugh, nothing is going to be effective, but she may as well _try_ something while Ampharos is on the field. "Thunderbolt."

Yeah, that did nothing. "Synthesis!"

For fuck's sake, she's back at full health - "Suicune, Air Slash!"

"Leaf Blade!" Shit, _shit,_ Suicune is weak to both grass and electric and that's all he has left, she could burn them but _someone_ knocked her starter out _why did I let Typhlosion faint so fast -_

"Again!"

Suicune toughs out the attack from Leavanny, though, and another gust of piercing air slices at the insect. With a lucky critical and one last hit, Leavanny is finally down for the count. 4-2, now.

"Reuniclus, Psychic!" Okay, okay, Reuniclus is already weak. This should be easy enough.

"Ice Beam," but Reuniclus _dodges_ again _what the hell -_

"One more time!"

"Surf!" And _that's_ enough to knock him out. "Reuniclus aren't naturally that fast, are they?"

"Usually not, but he's got some energy to him, huh?" He sounds confident. It's the first time she's _ever_ heard him sound confident. Even with her 4-1 lead, he's still -

He's enjoying this. He's having fun. That was why-

That was why _she_ wanted to become a trainer in the first place.

"Galvantula, let's go!" Alright, she's leading with 4-1, with one infamous spider left to take down. She feels her blood rushing in her veins.

"Energy Ball!"

As long as Suicune hits its mark, she'll be one hit away from victory. "Air Slash!"

"Thunderbolt!"

One hit away - "Surf!"

And the same scene as before is replayed, water rushing _away_ from her this time, electricity rushing _toward_ her, the tables have turned and for a good few seconds the lightning blinds her, and she wonders if she's not meant to see the end, if maybe Suicune isn't going to make it out of this in decent health, if maybe this will be the first battle where her legendary partner faints -

Her eyes readjust to the morning light, and Suicune is fine - very hurt, but standing, and Galvantula is unconscious.

She won, and she's completely out of breath, her throat sore from shouting. It's now that she realizes she's _been_ shouting.

"Well, _that_ was a hell of a show."

And it's now that she realizes they've had an audience. Green seems more than pleased at the outcome of that battle.

Crystal swallows dryly, trying to gather herself after all that. She... didn't expect _that_ much of a fight. Yeah, he's a champion - hell, Touya is a Prodigal Champion, he's on Red's level of expertise, and yet she somehow didn't conceptualize what she was going up against. Maybe she's just out of practice, or maybe she was a little bit out of herself.

Now, though, the ground feels more solid under her feet, and the sun is warmer. Suicune gazes back at her in a very familiar way.

"Not too bad, huh?" she asks it, and it bounds over to her in one jump, rubbing its muzzle into her hand. "I know, I know. We'll get everyone healed in a second." That was... amazing. Only one of her Pokémon is in decent health now. The last time she had a battle like that was when she went up against Red. Touya is -

"You're amazing."

Touya's voice brings her back to the social reality she's in; a challenger stands across the way with an absolutely bewildered expression, while an audience of one stands off to the side. Her focus bounces between Green and Touya for a moment while she tries to figure out what to say, what to do. In that way, Lance is right; neither she nor Red often know how to react to a victory.

"Thank you," is all she can offer Touya in response. "You definitely threw me through some loops there, though. I'm still a little bit out of practice, but - "

"I-If that's out of practice, I can't even imagine what it's like battling you at your best," Touya interjects, still expressing something like awe.

"Yeah, that's why Red talks so highly of her," Green comments. She feels a rush of... something, a familiar sort of tension at the praise, but a muddled pride lurks somewhere below that.

"I think he tends to exaggerate, though," she adds. "Still, battling him is always fun, and that's what's important." To her, and to him, to both champions who didn't want nor need to be champions.

"Eh," Green shrugs. "It's a bit of that, and a bit of _you_ being too humble for being an Indigo League Champ."

She has to laugh a bit. "Please. I was just growing up at the right time."

"So was every kid with a single Rattata and-or five Metapod."

She rolls her eyes a bit. "If you say so. Don't you have your own champion to get back to?"

"He's still asleep, and I heard y'all battling up a storm out here, so I figured I'd check it out. Dunno if he slept through all the commotion, though..."

She feels Touya's gaze on the back of her head, and sure enough, he's still just looking at her. "I dunno if we were _that_ noisy, Touya, were we?"

"I, uh... I dunno. Dude," and suddenly he's speaking louder, more easily, "Crystal, that was _insane._ Red and I battled at PWT, and he won 2-0. You just swept my team with a 4-0 win!"

She just shrugs. "Yeah. I guess."

"You - no, literally, how in the world are you this good? And don't try to say it was just because you have a legendary on your team," he adds, "because Red had Articuno on his team at PWT."

A thousand answers run through her mind, but only one of them encompasses the reality of it all. "I like being a trainer."

For a moment, Touya looks at her in disbelief, but then his expression settles. "It's fun, huh?"

And the air feels lighter.

"It always has been."

"No wonder you got so good. That's just second nature, huh?"

"Or passion."

And the sun feels warmer.

"Or both," Green adds. "When you get a sec, Crys, I want a rematch. I haven't battled you since we were like, what, fourteen?"

"Let me heal everyone up and regroup, first. I bet by the time Red is up, I'll be all set."

Green's grin is a little smug, a little light, and a little excited, the full spectrum of what a battle with him is like. "Just so y'know, if you're getting back into the scene, he's gonna be right back on your tail."

And the call of a battle feels stronger than ever.

"I can live with that."

And Crystal will gladly live a trainer's life again.

**Author's Note:**

> otherwise known as _i just wanted to write some Crystal and i have off today for severe windchills so it's okay if i don't sleep until 8am_  
>  i realized i never wrote that Touya v Crystal battle, and tbh i wanted to show off my Strong And Good And Powerful Girl™ in battle. i imagine she beat the Indigo League shortly after Red disappeared, so she had a lot of pressure on her, and instead of literally running away to avoid the stress, she just like. fell off the radar and started doing research with Professor Elm or smth. she and Red both have the _it's pointless if i'm not having fun_ ideology about battles though, so when she has The Good Time here she inadvertently kinda shows Red up in a way lol  
> (tbh she could maaaybe actually beat Red but whomst knows i might have to........... write another battl :3c)  
> ((also i promise i'm still working on _[Something, Everything About You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16967817/chapters/39878289)_ i'm just gettin busy again rip))


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